RICHMOND, Va. — VCU travel to Philadelphia, Pa. to kick off their A-10 schedule against the Hawks of Saint Joseph’s. The No. 9 and No. 12 ranked teams in the A-10 preseason poll will battle it out at the Michael J. Hagan Arena.
Saint Joseph ‘s is led by Head Coach Billy Lange. An assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76er’s for six years, Lange is heading into his second year in charge of the Hawks. Lange took over the job from legendary Head Coach Phil Martelli. He led Saint Joseph’s to seven NCAA Tournaments and six NITs in 24 seasons as head coach and is now an assistant under Juwan Howard at the University of Michigan. In Billy Lange’s first season, Saint Joseph’s finished with a 6-26 record overall, while going 2-16 in conference play. So far this season the Hawks are winless in five games, but don’t let their record fool you. The Hawks lost to Auburn in the season opener in overtime and then lost to No.6 Kansas the next day in Fort Myers, Fl. Their games against Bradley and Temple University were postponed because of Covid-19, then they went on to lose to Drexel, No.7 Villanova, and No. Tennessee. The Hawks so far have played a loaded non-conference schedule picking up games whenever an opposing team calls.
The players to watch in this game are Ryan Daly for the Hawks and Bones Hyland for the Rams.
Ryan Daly is a 6’5 guard from Havertown, Pa., currently averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. Daly was a one-star prospect coming out of high school, originally committing to play at the University of Delaware according to ESPN. In his two years at Delaware, Daly led the Blue Hens in scoring both seasons, while also earned All-CAA Third Team honors in back-to-back years. He averaged a team-best 17.5 points per game in the 2017-18 season. He also earned 2017 CAA Rookie of the Year honors and was also named to the CAA All-Tournament Team in his freshman season. Daly left the University of Delaware as a 1,000 point scorer in 2018. Daly sat out the 2018-19 season per NCAA Transfer Rules but came to life in his first season in crimson and grey. He was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Third Team while leading his team in scoring, rebounds, and assists in his first year as a Hawk. He led the entire Atlantic 10 in scoring last season and finished 21st nationally at 20.6 points per game. Daly’s 20.6 ppg was the highest by a Hawk since Jameer Nelson’s 20.6 ppg in 2003-04.
Bones Hyland is coming off a 15 point game against James Madison last week. For the season Hyland is averaging 18.2 points per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 38.7.% from three. Hyland is enjoying a breakout campaign for the Rams so far this season, scoring 30 or more points twice so far this season in wins against North Carolina A&T and Western Carolina. He is the Rams No. 1 threat on offense this season, starting at the shooting guard position. Freshman point guard Ace Baldwin and Sophomore point guard Tre Clark are handling the majority of facilitating responsible for the Rams this season.
Tip-off is set for noon on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at the Michael J. Hagan Arena. The game will be broadcasted on NBC Sports Washington.
